


Water Drops

by greeneggs101



Series: An Ever Changing Sky [5]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Spoilers, M/M, Post Kingdom Hearts 0.2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 17:48:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10836264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: Aqua returns from the realm of darkness to find that everything, and nothing, has changed.





	Water Drops

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure how to tag this since it's just a short one shot of an idea I had after finishing 0.2. But somewhat big spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 0.2. I also recommend reading the first in this series "An Ever Changing Sky," but it's not necessary. Just know that Riku and Sora are in a relationship and, though they don't really show up in this fic, Leon and Cloud are very, very protective of our little brunet marshmallow.
> 
> EDIT 5/7 - So... It was pointed out to me in the comments that this fic doesn't really jive with the storyline presented in another fic of the series, "Wind Gusts", which is true. For now, this fic and the first Chapter of Wind Gusts are slightly AU of each other. I may write a fic one day that reconciles the two fics, but for now, they are AU of each other.

Aqua jerked awake, keyblade flashing in hand. She was halfway out of bed before she remembered that she was no longer in the dark realm and was instead in one of the rooms of Master Yen Sid’s tower. 

She remembered that Mickey and the boy, though now more of a young man, Riku, had rescued her from the Dark World and brought her back here. She had barely made it up the front steps before years of exhaustion and missed sleep swept over her and she nearly collapsed. 

She barely remembered what happened after that, but thought that Riku must have helped her to a room before leaving her to rest. 

Suddenly, she heard raised voices in the hall again, which must have been what had awoken her in the first place. 

“I don’t mind you going without me, Riku!” a young male voice shouted. “I mind that you didn’t say goodbye.”

“We were in a bit of a hurry!” an older male shouted back. “You should have been back sooner.”

“I had a lot of friends to say goodbye to. Something I would think you’d understand!”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t always need to tell you where I’m going.” 

“I know that!”

Cautiously, Aqua crept closer to the door, opening it quietly. 

Just outside the door, Riku was arguing with another young man with brown spiky hair and blue eyes that so reminded her of Ven. With a start, Aqua realized that it was Sora. The other boy from Destiny Islands.

“Then what are you so angry about?” Riku had his arms crossed, looking defensive. 

“Because what if one day you leave and don’t come back?!” Sora shouted, arms waving in frustration. “You already disappeared once and I don’t know if you’ll do it again.” Sighing, Sora looked down and his voice softened. “Just because you’re a keyblade master now doesn’t mean you’re invincible. Don’t let it go to your head.” Turning away the brunet ran down passageway. 

Riku hesitated for only a moment before calling after him. “Wait! Sora!”

But Sora didn’t stop and instead ran through a doorway that Aqua thought led to the staircases. 

Riku let out a long, frustrated groan before leaning back against the wall and banging his head against it. Aqua could barely hear him muttering “Stupid,” under his breath. 

“What was that about?” she asked aloud, holding back an amused smile when Riku jerked away from the wall.

“Oh... Sorry... did we wake you?” Riku uncrossed his arms and avoided her gaze. 

“Not really... I’m sure I would have woken up shortly.”

“If you need more rest...” he trailed off when she shook her head. 

“No, thank you,” Aqua gave a small smile, “Though I am a little hungry.”

“I’ll lead you to the kitchen,” Riku said, returning her smile. 

Together, they made their way down the stairs, Riku hurrying along anxiously, and Aqua wondered if he was trying to find Sora. 

When they entered the kitchen, they were greeted by two redheads, male and female. The taller male redhead was cooking something on the stove, and smirked at Riku when the silver haired boy entered the kitchen. The shorter, redhaired female practically met them at the door and marched up to Riku.

“What did you do to Sora?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Riku held his hands up in defense. “We just argued and it was stupid.”

The girl sighed and smacked her forehead, “Well... I hope you don’t have any missions in Radiant Garden soon. Leon’s gonna kill you.”

Riku sighed and lowered his head, his hair falling into his face and hiding his expression. “Was he that upset?”

“Let’s put it this way... Leon might actually steal Sora’s gummi ship and come back here to kill you in person,” the taller redhead snickered. 

“Shut up, Axel!” Riku growled. 

Axel stuck his tongue out and returned to his food. “Hey, you hungry?”

With a start, Aqua realized he was talking to her. “Um... yes.”

Axel nodded and pulled down another plate. “I was making extras for Sora anyway, but he ran off to Radiant Garden, so he’ll probably have dinner there before he calms down.”

Riku sighed and took a seat at the nearby table, groaning again. “Stupid.”

“Who, you or Sora?” Axel questioned while filling up a plate and handing it to Aqua. Aqua murmured a quiet thanks before taking a seat across from Riku. 

“Me, probably...”

“More likely both of you,” Kairi stated before taking a seat next to Riku and rubbing his back. “What were you two arguing about?”

Riku sighed. “He didn’t like that I didn’t wait to tell him bye before departing with Mickey to the dark world...” He sighed and his head hit the table with another groan. “He is still worried that I’ll just leave again.”

“Well... that is a valid concern, though he is a bit paranoid about it,” Kairi admitted. 

“But I wouldn’t do that... I won’t hide from him again...”

“But you did technically leave him again without telling him where you were going....” Axel took a seat next to Aqua and passed out two more plates of food, reserving a third for himself.

“I didn’t want to worry him,” Riku mumbled, still not taking his head off the table. 

“He’s going to worry, whether he knows where you’re going or not,” Aqua murmured, remembering her own feelings about Ven and Terra. “Better to be honest.”

Riku lifted his head, and offered a nod of acknowledgement before picking at the food Axel placed in front of him. “Yeah...but I may not always have time to reach him and let him know...”

“And Sora will get that through his head eventually,” Kairi stated. “You know he’s more upset at the thought of losing you than actually angry with you.”

“I guess,” Riku shrugged and grew quiet. 

Kairi sighed and then turned to Aqua offering a large smile. “Sorry about that... we didn’t introduce ourselves. That’s Lea...”

The taller red head raised his hand. “I also answer to Axel, though Kairi likes to call me ‘kidnapper’ when she’s angry.”

“Well, you were...” Kairi stuck out her tongue before returning her attention to Aqua, “And I’m Kairi... I think we’ve met before though.”

Aqua blinked trying to think, before the memory of wide blue eyes and an offer of flowers came to mind. “The girl at Radiant Garden.”

Kairi nodded. “Yeah... I suppose I should thank you as well.” She raised her hand to her necklace where a charm lay, the same one Aqua remembered enchanting when the girl was young. “It kept me safe like you said...” 

Aqua smiled back and nodded, “I’m glad something I did has done some good...”

“You did a lot more though, if those stories Mickey tells are true,” Riku murmured, still lost in thought. 

“Not enough to save my friends.”

“We’re working on that,” Axel stated. “Sora just came back from his own mark of mastery test, and Kairi and I are training to catch up with them.”

“You might take a few years,” Kairi stated.

“Decades,” Riku agreed. 

“Gosh, thanks for the faith,” Axel scoffed. “Roxas would believe in me.”

“Sora does too... for some reason,” Riku rolled his eyes and then sighed.

Axel then grinned and laughed. “Hey, Kairi. 10 munny Leon and Cloud will steal the gummi ship to come and terrify poor Riku here.”

Kairi glared but then rolled her eyes, “Haha... not funny, Lea.” After a moment she crossed her arms and appeared to think about it. “Though... pretty sure Aerith would arrive first, shovel in hand and tell Riku to go dig his own grave... so I place 15 munny on that.”

Riku groaned and hit his head on the table again, narrowly missing his own plate. “I hate both of you.” 

“No you don’t!” the redheads chimed and then laughed. Even Aqua had to smile a little at their teasing, especially when she saw that, despite his words, Riku was smiling softly. 

After their meal, Axel and Kairi went to go practice magic with a wizard named Merlin, leaving Aqua and Riku alone in the kitchen. 

“So... Who were they talking about? Leon and...” She trailed off. 

“Leon, Cloud and Aerith... though honestly, if those three come, Cid, Yuffie and Tifa wouldn’t be far behind.” He hesitated a bit, lost in thought again. “They are friends in Radiant Garden. They kind of... adopted Sora after his first adventure to close Kingdom Hearts...” He sighed and looked down. “I hope Sora got there okay.”

“First adventure?”

Riku nodded. “That’s... complicated... but I think it was when you first met Mickey in the dark world. He said you had seen Cinderella’s world there? And Snow White’s?”

“And Enchanted Dominion... Aurora’s world I think...” 

Riku nodded, “They were some of the first to fall to darkness after... well... after...” He trailed off... clearly unsure of what to tell her.

“After..” she prompted. 

“Uh... There were some people in Radiant Garden doing experiments on hearts... and in doing so, they were causing more heartless than usual to be created. The heartless spread, and after devouring the hearts of the worlds, those worlds fell to darkness. I think Radiant Garden was also among the first to fall, though it wasn’t consumed completely and part of it remained in the realm of light as a base of operations...”

“Who would do such a thing? Experiment with people’s hearts?”

“...It doesn’t matter anymore... Sora stopped them....” Riku sighed, but smiled. “They didn’t stand a chance.”

Aqua sensed that there was more he wasn’t telling her, but also did not want to pry. 

“So... these friends of Sora’s don’t like you for some reason?”

Riku shrugged, “Not exactly, but they are very protective of him. Like I said, they kind of adopted him...” 

“Ah...” Aqua hesitated for a moment before speaking up again. “It’s kind of funny... what he said before he left. About it going to your head.”

Riku looked up, “Yeah?”

“My friend, Ven, he said something similar to me once. After I passed the exam, and my friend Terra didn’t... Master Eraqus ordered me to keep an eye on Terra and watch him because he thought Terra was too close to the darkness... and I did... but I wasn’t honest with Terra about it, and it hurt him, I think. Ven said that I had let the mark of mastery go to my head, and put it before my friends...” She sighed. “I think that I did...”

“But you wanted to protect them... and you thought that the mark of mastery proved that you could... but Sora is right too...” Riku sighed and looked down, “It doesn’t make you invincible... and it doesn’t mean that you know everything there is.” He leaned back against the chair. “...And I can’t protect him from worrying about me.” A deep sigh before he straightened and got out of the chair, taking her plate as well as his own to the sink. 

Aqua nodded in agreement. “If he is still your best friend... he did promise to keep you on the right path.”

Riku smiled, though Aqua thought it was tinged with a bit of sadness. “Yeah... and don’t worry... he kept that promise. He was always there to help me back into the light, even when I didn’t know I had fallen into darkness.” 

Aqua furrowed her brow in concern. “Wait... is that why... you were in the realm of darkness to begin with.”

Riku sighed but nodded, “Yeah... I was stupid... and took a wrong path... I opened my heart to darkness and it took over my body... but at the last moment, my heart was able to stay strong and it entered the realm of darkness. So I was able to close the door from that side.” He turned to look at her. “Thank you for buying us time.”

Aqua nodded, “I’m glad it closed for good,” she murmured, half thinking of what Terra had said when she was in the realm of darkness.

I messed up! Xehenort is a part of me...

Did something similar happen to Riku? But... if Riku got his body back, maybe there was hope for Terra.

“Sora was always like that for me. The light to guide the way,” Riku continued, another soft smile gracing his features. 

Aqua realized with a start what that smile meant, remembering Prince Philip when he talked about Aurora. 

“You love him, don’t you?”

Riku’s cheeks instantly took on a pinkish hue and he nodded. “Yeah... I do.”

“Does he know?”

Riku smiled and opened his mouth, “Well, he--” a sudden shout cut him off. 

“Riku!” 

Instantly, Riku turned towards the doorway, calling out, “Sora?”

The kitchen door opened and a spiky haired brunet entered, giving Aqua a short glance before tackling Riku to the ground. The silver-haired boy barely caught him before they both went down in a tangle of limbs. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!” 

The brunet was babbling, and Aqua thought she saw some tears too as Sora buried his face in Riku’s neck and held on tight. 

“Sora?” Riku questioned, squinting in pain as he had hit the ground pretty hard. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry!” Sora continued, still squeezing, apparently not listening to Riku’s worried question. Aqua watched as the silver haired boy quickly patted the brunet over, checking for wounds, before laying back on the floor. Sora did not let go of him the whole time. 

“No Sora, I’m sorry...” Riku wrapped his arms around Sora’s waist. “I should have explained where I was going.”

“But you’re right, there wasn’t time... I rush off all the time...”

“But you always say goodbye first...” Riku sighed, “I understand why you’re worried.”

Finally Sora lifted his head, “But... I can’t let that stop you from doing what you have to do...”

“No... you can’t.” Riku sighed and pulled Sora close again. 

Aqua blushed at what should have been a private conversation, but they were blocking the only known exit to the room. 

“I promise, Sora...” Riku started, threading his fingers through the brunet’s hair. “I promise that no matter where I go, I’ll always make it back to you. No matter what.” He grinned. “Our hearts are connected, remember? We’ll always be together, even if we’re apart.”

Sora lifted his head and smiled, “Right. Always!” With that, he leaned in and gave Riku a solid kiss on the mouth. For his part, Riku barely hesitated before responding. 

“Well... I guess that answered my question,” Aqua muttered to herself. 

Sora seemed to hear her anyway and with a loud smack, separated himself from Riku. “Uh....Sorry....”

Riku was turning that interesting shade of pink again, and refused to meet her eyes, even as they both picked themselves off the ground. 

Sora smiled though and bounded over. “Hi! Sorry I ran off before I could introduce myself before. I’m Sora!” He stuck out his hand, his smile growing. 

“I’m Aqua,” she replied shaking the offered hand. 

Sora laughed. “It’s funny... I know I never really met you, but it feels like I know you...”

“We did meet once... when you were very young.”

“Yeah.... but this is different,” Sora shrugged. 

“Must be a ‘Sora’ thing,” Riku smiled wrapping a hand around the brunet’s shoulders and pulling him close. 

Aqua smiled at them and opened her mouth to question further but another shout interrupted her thoughts. 

“RIKU!”

Riku paled instantly and he seemed to try and shrink behind Sora. “Hide me. It’s your fault if he kills me.”

Sora chuckled nervously, “Yeah.... they wouldn’t exactly let me leave without them. Said I was too upset to fly.”

“They?!”

Two more shouts, another man’s and a woman’s called out Riku’s name, and Riku seemed to try and make himself even smaller. “Damn it...” 

Sora giggled and took Riku’s hand. “Sorry to run off, Master Aqua,... but I really should hide Riku before trying to calm them down. If an angry brunet and blonde swordsmen come in here with blades drawn, don’t tell them we were here... say we were anywhere but here.”

“It’s not a big tower Sora, they’ll find me eventually.”

“No they wont...” Sora laughed as he ran off, dragging Riku behind him. 

Despite her confusion over the sequence of events, and her constant worry over her friends, Aqua felt herself laughing for the first time in many years, new hope blossoming that she could share that laughter with Terra and Ven soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think, or if there are any large errors! Thanks!


End file.
